Asian Arts

Cleverly carved to take advantage of the grey and white tones of the stone, the recumbent cat with a butterfly by its curled tail, on an ornately carved and pierced barrel-form garden stool.

Note:

"Qiao Se" (skillfully using color), a classical practice of jade carving. The jade carver would work as a painter, manipulating the natural palete presented in the stone into the realization of the subject. It also better serves the purpose of conserving the precious jade material. Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795) once highly praised the technique.
The Chinese word "Cat and Butterfly" are homonyms of the words for elderly prople (from their 70s to 90s). This rebus combination appears frequently on artworks, as a wish for longevity and usually presented as a birthday gift to older people.

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